Great Impact Research Articles

Experience of Diagnosis and Initiation of Renal Replacement Therapy in Women with Chronic Kidney Disease.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) has considerable effects on the quality of life of female patients. Receiving the diagnosis and beginning renal replacement therapy (RRT) has a great personal impact on patients. The purpose of this study was to describe the experience of female patients with CKD at an ambulatory dialysis unit regarding diagnosis, life changes, and initiation of RRT. A qualitative exploratory study was conducted based on a social contructivism framework. Participants were recruited using purposeful sampling. In total, 18 women who received treatment for CKD with RRT were included. The women were attending the Ambulatory Dialysis Unit at a hospital belonging to the public health system of Madrid (Spain). Unstructured and semi-structured in-depth interviews, researchers' field notes, and women's personal letters were used. A systematic text condensation analysis was performed. The criteria used to control trustworthiness were credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability. Two themes emerged from the data: (a) A turning point in their lives, and (b) The emotional journey of beginning RRT. The diagnosis of CKD and the beginning of treatment implies changing routines and adapting to a new life with CKD. The first dialysis and puncture of the arteriovenous fistula is a major experience. Support from other CKD patients with more experience is perceived as a necessity and a tool to share their experiences and resolve doubts among peers. The diagnosis and initiation of RRT leads to numerous changes in the lives of women with CKD, which may influence the acceptance of treatment.

Natural gas pipeline leak diagnosis based on manifold learning

Natural gas pipeline leakage is a common safety hazard, which can have a great impact on the economy and the environment. This paper proposed a novel manifold learning-enabled feature extraction method for natural gas pipeline leakage diagnosis. Firstly, the natural gas pipeline working condition signal is decomposed and denoised by Variational mode decomposition (VMD). Secondly, the denoised pipeline signals were constructed into a form expressed by the Symmetric positive definite matrix (SPD) using the VMD reconstruction technique, and the geodesic distance measurement method was applied to the SPD matrix to make the data located on the SPD manifold. Then feature extraction is carried out by Local linear embedding (LLE) method based on asymmetric distance. Finally, pattern recognition of the features extracted in this paper by Support vector machine (SVM) can achieve 100% recognition accuracy. By enabling faster and more accurate leak detection, the method minimizes gas loss, as well as mitigating the environmental risks caused by this potent greenhouse gas.

Experiences of Irish Advanced Nurse Practitioners Delivering Nursing Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Objective: The objective of this research was to explore ANP's experience in the delivery of advanced nursing care to patients and how the Covid-19 pandemic has affected the day-to-day work of ANPs as well as gaining an understanding of ANPs’ perceptions of how the pandemic has influenced the delivery of care to patients and the personal impact of working as an ANP during the Covid-19 pandemic. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has affects healthcare staff and patients worldwide. Many studies have looked at the experiences of nursing staff during the pandemic but very few have examined the experiences of ANPs. Study design and methods: A qualitative descriptive study was conducted examining the experiences of Irish ANPs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 ANP participants. Thematic analysis of interview transcripts was performed using a Castleberry and Nolan’s (2008) five-step thematic analysis. Results: Three themes and four sub-themes were found through thematic interview analysis. These themes were, 1. Adapting to COVID with subthemes fear and anxiety of covid, feeling supported, the advent of telehealth, 2. Impact of redeployment with subtheme not prepared for redeployment, 3. Primary Care and General Practitioners. Conclusion: The identified themes provided insight into the experiences of Irish advanced nurse practitioners caring for patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Each theme shed a personal light on the impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on the professional working lives of nurses working at an advanced level within Ireland. The finding of this study adds to a growing body of literature on the impact COVID-19 had on nursing. Advanced nurse practitioners are a cohort of nurses who had to adapt to the challenges of COVID-19 which impacted their professional and their personal lives. Implications for research, policy, and practice: Understanding how ANPs experienced the COVID-19 pandemic as a group of healthcare professionals allows for better planning for future pandemics or crises using the skills of these professionals to better serve their patient populations as well as planning healthcare workforce more effectively. What is already known about the topic? • COVID-19 has had a great impact on nursing in both positive and negative ways. • Nurses have had to adapt to challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. What this paper adds • An insight into how COVID-19 impacted advanced nurse practitioners within Ireland. Keywords: Nurse practitioner; Nurse; COVID-19; Qualitative Research; Ireland Objective

Study on the treatment of oil production wastewater by corona discharge coupling Fenton reagent

As the main by-product of oil production, oil production wastewater has the characteristics of high organic content and poor biodegradability, which makes the low temperature plasma wastewater treatment technology get new development. The Ground electrode atomization negative corona discharge（GEANCD） technology increases the discharge current on the basis of traditional corona discharge, but the uneven atomization of liquid is a key challenge at present, which will have a great impact on the degradation of wastewater pollutants. In this study, the GEANCD reactor was redesigned and a self-developed spiral wire hole electrode (SWHE) was used to replace the conventional wire electrode (WE). The discharge characteristics of the reactor under the two electrode structures were investigated and the optimal discharge parameters were determined. Under the optimum discharge parameters, the treatment effect of the two electrode structures with or without coupling Fenton reagent on oil production wastewater was also compared. The experimental results show that under the optimal discharge parameters of flow rate of 25 mL/min, plate electrode distance of 50 mm and discharge voltage of 14 kV, the reactor equipped with SWHE has higher discharge current, and the treatment effect of oil production wastewater is better when coupled with Fenton reagent.

A hybrid data assimilation method for reconstructing airflow path parameters of a multi-zone model

The indoor airborne pollutant has a great impact on indoor air quality. During the calculation process of pollutant distribution, some difficult-to-obtain parameters are critical in ensuring the calculation accuracy. In this study, we proposed a hybrid data assimilation method combined with Ensemble Kalman Filter (EnKF) and Gibbs sampling to reconstruct airflow path parameters (flow coefficient and flow index) in a multi-zone building model. Specially, we built a scaled multi-zone building model and used CO2 as the tracer gas to simulate the pollutant distribution in the building. The monitored sensor concentration data were used as prior information to reconstruct airflow path parameters of the scaled building model. And the performances of different data assimilation methods were compared. The results show that the EnKF method can reduce the calculation time by 46 % compared to the Gibbs sampling method, but the predicted accuracy decreases by 38 %. However, when we used the hybrid algorithm to reconstruct the airflow path parameters, the calculation time was reduced by 67 % compared to the EnKF method, and the predicted reconstruction accuracy is 7 % higher than the Gibbs sampling method.

Self-Assembly of a Hierarchical Metal-Organic Framework at the Liquid/Liquid Interface via π-π Stacking Manipulations in Organoplatinum(IV) Complexes for Methanol Fuel Cells.

This study focuses on the facile synthesis of the hierarchical architecture of zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) films containing an ultrasmall amount of Pt(0) by investigating the synthesis of different organoplatinum complexes and manipulating the π-π stacking effect in these complexes at the liquid/liquid interface. The organometallic Pt(IV) precursors were complexes with a formula of [PtXMe2(R)(bpy)] (bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine; for complex 2, R = CH2CH═CHC6H5 and X = Br; for complex 3, R = CH2CH═CH2 and X = Br; for complex 4, R = Me and X = I) prepared by oxidative addition of cinnamyl bromide, allyl bromide, or methyl iodide to [PtMe2(bpy)] (complex 1). Different thin films were synthesized starting from three organometallic Pt(IV) precursors (i) by reduction of the Pt complexes at the toluene/water interface (TF2-TF4), (ii) by encapsulation of the Pt precursors in a ZIF-8 (TF5-TF7), and (iii) by reduction of the Pt precursors onto a ZIF-8 (TF8-TF10). The self-assembly of ZIF-8 and different organoplatinum precursors at the interface of two immiscible liquids leads to the preparation of films with well-engineered structures such as rhombic dodecahedra, nanorods, hierarchical architectures, and nanowires, which are very difficult and complicated to synthesize under normal conditions. The ultralow loading of platinum complexes with different degrees of π-π stacking of dangling moieties has a great impact on the structure and morphology (directing agent), which in turn drastically changes the catalytic properties. The obtained films were applied as electrocatalysts for methanol oxidation in fuel cells. The electrocatalytic performance of organoplatinum containing a cinnamyl group in hierarchical architecture TF8 was found to be superior to those of nonhierarchical structures.

Threats to Journalism Practice in South America Due to Lack of Trauma Literacy in Professional Training: Results of a Survey in Brazil and Colombia

This discussion is part of the work of the Research Group on Education in Journalism and Trauma (JETREG), focusing on the exposure of Brazilian and Colombian journalists to risks in the exercise of their profession. The article analyzes responses of 50 Brazilian and Colombian professors who participated in the web survey on traumatic coverage and the inclusion of this topic in journalism teaching. The method involves survey. The fact that in Colombia and Brazil most journalism schools are private results in avoiding talking about risks of traumatic situations that the profession involves, as this can affect the demand of young people who want to graduate for this job and have great impact on already offering and distributing dispersed classes in the curriculum. The study pointed: i) gender attacks; ii) coverage of human rights; and iii) attacks on press freedom.

Analysis of public policies to combat COVID-19 in the state of Paraná, Brazil.

The COVID-19 pandemic had a great impact on several public sectors worldwide, requiring the implementation of public policies in an organized way to contain and control the disease. Thus, this study aimed to analyze public policies to face the COVID-19 pandemic in the State of Paraná, Brazil. This was a cross-sectional, retrospective, quantitative survey carried out with data from March 2020 to March 2022 in the twenty-two municipalities that host the local health regions. Data collection was documentary, carried out from the municipal Portal da Transparência website, which is dedicated to making public all expenditures, and epidemiological bulletins released by the Health Department of the state of Paraná. The variables analyzed were New Cases and Deaths, Mortality and Lethality Coefficient, Incidence Rate, Vaccination Coverage, Number of Hospital and ICU beds exclusive to COVID-19, Settled Expenses destined for COVID-19 and coping measures, namely, the Declaration of Public Health Emergency, Curfew, Mandatory use of masks, Businesses closure, Teleworking of risk groups, and Suspension of activities with crowds and of classes. After collection, data underwent descriptive analysis, and subsequently, the correlation of variables was analyzed using the Spearman test. Multiple linear regression was applied using the variable selection method called best subset selection (BSS). The dependent variables listed were incidence rate, new cases and new deaths. The results showed that coping measures, as well as the application of resources for the pandemic, were implemented heterogeneously in the municipalities studied, and the progression of the disease, the distribution of beds and vaccination occurred unevenly and may be a reflection of the limited Brazilian national governance. An important correlation was observed between the incidence rate and new deaths with vaccination coverage. In addition, the regression model showed that measures such as mandatory use of masks, closure of shops, suspension of classes, and curfew showed important correlations with the variables incidence rate, cases, and new deaths. The study highlighted the importance of carrying out a robust analysis of public policies to face emergencies of global importance so that government entities are prepared for future crises of great repercussions, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

MiRNA and leptin signaling in metabolic diseases and at extreme environments.

The burden of growing concern about the dysregulation of metabolic processes arises due to complex interplay between environment and nutrition that has great impact on genetics and epigenetics of an individual. Thereby, any abnormality at the level of food intake regulating hormones may contribute to the development of metabolic diseases in any age group due to malnutrition, overweight, changing lifestyle, and exposure to extreme environments such as heat stress (HS), cold stress, or high altitude (HA). Hormones such as leptin, adiponectin, ghrelin, and cholecystokinin regulate appetite and satiety to maintain energy homeostasis. Leptin, an adipokine and a pleiotropic hormone, play major role in regulating the food intake, energy gain and energy expenditure. Using in silico approach, we have identified the major genes (LEP, LEPR, JAK2, STAT3, NPY, POMC, IRS1, SOCS3) that play crucial role in leptin signaling pathway. Further, eight miRNAs (hsa-miR-204-5p, hsa-miR-211-5p, hsa-miR-30, hsa-miR-3163, hsa-miR-33a-3p, hsa-miR-548, hsa-miR-561-3p, hsa-miR-7856-5p) from TargetScan 8.0 database were screened out that commonly target these genes. The role of these miRNAs should be explored as they might play vital role in regulating the appetite, energy metabolism, metabolic diseases (obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, inflammation), and to combat extreme environments. The miRNAs regulating leptin signaling and appetite may be useful for developing novel therapeutics for metabolic diseases.

Microbial Matryoshka: Addressing the Relationship between Pathogenic Flagellated Protozoans and Their RNA Viral Endosymbionts (Family Totiviridae).

Three genera of viruses of the family Totiviridae establish endosymbiotic associations with flagellated protozoa responsible for parasitic diseases of great impact in the context of One Health. Giardiavirus, Trichomonasvirus, and Leishmaniavirus infect the protozoa Giardia sp., Trichomonas vaginalis, and Leishmania sp., respectively. In the present work, we review the characteristics of the endosymbiotic relationships established, the advantages, and the consequences caused in mammalian hosts. Among the common characteristics of these double-stranded RNA viruses are that they do not integrate into the host genome, do not follow a lytic cycle, and do not cause cytopathic effects. However, in cases of endosymbiosis between Leishmaniavirus and Leishmania species from the Americas, and between Trichomonasvirus and Trichomonas vaginalis, it seems that it can alter their virulence (degree of pathogenicity). In a mammalian host, due to TLR3 activation of immune cells upon the recognition of viral RNA, uncontrolled inflammatory signaling responses are triggered, increasing pathological damage and the risk of failure of conventional standard treatment. Endosymbiosis with Giardiavirus can cause the loss of intestinal adherence of the protozoan, resulting in a benign disease. The current knowledge about viruses infecting flagellated protozoans is still fragmentary, and more research is required to unravel the intricacies of this three-way relationship. We need to develop early and effective diagnostic methods for further development in the field of translational medicine. Taking advantage of promising biotechnological advances, the aim is to develop ad hoc therapeutic strategies that focus not only on the disease-causing protozoan but also on the virus.

Patient-reported outcome measures for systemic lupus erythematosus: an expert Delphi consensus to guide implementation in routine care

BackgroundSystemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) may result in great impact on patients’ quality of life, social relationships, and work productivity. The use of patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) in routine care could help capture disease burden to guide SLE management and optimize disease control. We aimed to explore the current situation, appropriateness, and feasibility of PROMs to monitor patients with SLE in routine care, from healthcare professionals’ and patients’ perspectives.MethodsA scientific committee developed a Delphi questionnaire, based on a focus group with patients and a literature review, including 22 statements concerning: 1) Use of PROMs in routine care (n = 2); 2) PROMs in SLE management (n = 13); 3) Multidisciplinary management of patients with SLE (n = 4), and 4) Aspects on patient empowerment (n = 3). Statements included in Sects. 2–4 were assessed from three perspectives: current use, appropriateness, and feasibility (with currently available resources). For each statement, panellists specified their level of agreement using a 7-point Likert scale. A consensus was reached when ≥ 70% of the panellists agreed (6,7) or disagreed (1,2) on each statement.ResultsFifty-nine healthcare professionals and 16 patients with SLE participated in the Delphi-rounds. A consensus was reached on the value of PROMs to improve SLE management (83%) and the key role of healthcare professionals (77%) and the need for a digital tool connected to the electronic medical record (85%) to promote and facilitate PROMs collection. PROMs most frequently used in clinical practice are pain (56%), patient’s global assessment (44%) and fatigue (39%), all on visual analogue scales. Panellists agreed on the need to implement multidisciplinary consultation (79%), unify complementary tests (88%), incorporate pharmacists into the healthcare team (70%), and develop home medication dispensing and informed telepharmacy programmes (72%) to improve quality of care in patients with SLE. According to panellists, patient associations (82%) and nurses (80%) are critical to educate and train patients on PROMs to enhance patient empowerment.ConclusionsAlthough pain, fatigue, and global assessment were identified as the most feasible, PROMs are not widely used in routine care in Spain. The present Delphi consensus can provide a road map for their implementation being key for SLE management.

Sintering parameter optimization by inverse analysis in direct metal deposition of Inconel 718

PurposeThe net power delivered to the surface of parts (i.e. the actual heat flux) is a key parameter in the laser melting process and its exact control has a great impact on the numerical solutions. In this paper, the impact of laser additive manufacturing parameters including laser power, scanning speed and powder injection rate on thermal efficiency, net power delivered to the part and power loss due to powder flow has been investigated.Design/methodology/approachThe response surface method was applied to measure the net laser power in laser deposited Inconel 718 using k-type thermocouples. The temperature history obtained by thermocouples was used to calculate the net power delivered by inverse analysis method. The applied model is Rosenthal's optimized model, in which all the thermal properties of the material are considered to vary with temperature.FindingsThe results indicated that the thermal efficiency, power delivered to the part and power loss can be optimized simultaneously at laser power of 400 W, scanning speed of 2 mm/s and powder injection rate of 200 mg/s. The microstructure analysis indicated that a high-quality sample without microstructural defects was formed under optimal condition of parameters. Moreover, the primary dendrite arm spacing for the optimal sample was higher than that obtained for other samples.Originality/valueThe novelty of this research summarized as follows: Prediction of the thermal efficiency and power loss during the laser metal deposition of Inconel 718 superalloy using the inverse analysis. Finding the optimal values of thermal efficiency, power delivered to the surface and power loss in the laser metal deposition of Inconel 718 superalloy. Investigating the effect of laser power, powder injection rate and scanning speed on the thermal efficiency and power loss of Inconel 718 superalloy during the laser metal deposition.

Developing bullying prevention guidelines for nurse interns’ and its effects on their assertiveness

BackgroundBullying is a serious problem that has short and long term negative consequences for nurse interns. Bullying prevention guidelines have a great impact on reducing the incidence of bullying among nurse interns.AimThe present study aimed to evaluate the effect of developing bullying prevention guidelines on nurse interns’ assertiveness levels.MethodsA methodological study design was used to conduct the study at Ain Shams University Hospitals in Cairo Governorate, Egypt. The study subjects consisted of all nurse interns enrolled in the 2022–2023 internship year and their number 121 nurse interns. The data were collected using four tools: the Bullying Knowledge Questionnaire, the Negative Act Questionnaire Revised (NAQ-R), the Individual Bullying Behaviors in Clinical Practice Survey, and the Assertiveness Inventory.ResultsThe scores for total bullying knowledge and assertiveness after the implementation of the prevention guidelines were significantly increased (91.4% and 86.3%, respectively) among those who were exposed to bullying than among those with pretest scores of (34.7% and 11.8% respectively) (P < 0.001).ConclusionBullying prevention guidelines significantly reduced nurse interns bullying and improved their assertiveness. The study recommended the dissemination and generalization of the developed bullying prevention guidelines in different training settings.

Modeling and Assessment of Temperature and Thermal Stress Field of Asphalt Pavement on the Tibetan Plateau

The Qinghai–Tibet Plateau (QTP) is the highest altitude plateau in the world, characterized by strong solar radiation and large diurnal temperature differences and so on, which brings a great negative impact on the temperature and thermal stress field of asphalt pavement. The purpose of this study is to analyze the temperature field and thermal stress status of asphalt pavement in the QTP to provide a reference for pavement design and maintenance in high-altitude areas. The finite element method was applied to establish the temperature field model to study the distribution and variation of pavement temperature. On this basis, the influence of cooling amplitude on pavement thermal stress was studied during cold waves. In addition to this, the key internal factors affecting the thermal stress of pavement, such as surface thickness, surface temperature shrinkage coefficient, surface modulus, and base modulus, were analyzed by an orthogonal test. It was found that temperature and solar radiation have a significant effect on the pavement temperature field. When the cold wave came, the cooling rate had a considerable impact on the thermal stress of the pavement, that is, every 5 °C increase in cooling rate would increase the thermal stress by more than 50%. The temperature shrinkage coefficient and surface modulus of the surface layer material had the greatest influence on the pavement thermal stress. The thermal stress could be reduced by more than 0.4 Mpa for every 5 × 10−6/°C reduction in the surface temperature shrinkage coefficient or every 1000 Mpa reduction in the surface modulus. This study can provide a reference for improving the temperature field and thermal stress field of asphalt pavement in the plateau area.

Effects of motor cortical and peripheral axonal hyperexcitability on survival in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

BackgroundIncreased ‘cortical’ and ‘peripheral’ excitability are reportedly associated with shorter survival in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients, suggesting that hyperexcitability contributes to motor neuron death. However, whether upper or lower...

Assessment of Quality of Life after Functional Endoscopic Sinus Surgery for Chronic Rhinosinusitis

Abstract Background: Chronic rhinosinusitis is the most common otolaryngologic disease that has a great impact on patient’s quality of life. Patients refractory to medical therapy require functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS). Aim: To evaluate and compare the disease specific quality of life in patients of chronic rhinosinusitis pre operatively and after FESS using the Sino Nasal Outcome Test 22 (SNOT 22). Patients and Methods: This prospective longitudinal study was conducted on 30 patients with chronic rhinosinusitis. History, clinical, diagnostic sinonasal endoscopy and radiological findings were recorded. For assessing the quality of life, the SNOT-22 questionnaire was used preoperatively and after 1 week, 1 month and 3 months after undergoing FESS. Results: About 43.3% of the patients were males and 56.7% were females. Seventy percentage were between 18 and 30 years. Nasal obstruction was the most common presenting symptom (96.6%), followed by nasal discharge (80%). Diagnostic sinonasal endoscopy and non-contrast computed tomography scan of paranasal sinuses reflected the extent of the disease. The mean pre-operative SNOT-22 score was 40.4 ± 12.06 and a decrease in mean post-operatives scores was observed during their post-operative visits at 1 week (11.77 ± 3.39), 1 month (4.67 ± 2.77) and 3 months (2.47 ± 1.28) which were statistically significant. Conclusion: Chronic rhinosinusitis patient’s refractory to medical treatment showed statistically significant improvement in their quality of life after undergoing FESS.

Managing Patients with Hypereosinophilic Syndrome: A Statement from the Italian Society of Allergy, Asthma, and Clinical Immunology (SIAAIC).

Hypereosinophilic syndrome (HES) encompasses a heterogeneous and complex group of different subtypes within the wider group of hypereosinophilic disorders. Despite increasing research interest, several unmet needs in terms of disease identification, pathobiology, phenotyping, and personalized treatment remain to be addressed. Also, the prospective burden of non-malignant HES and, more in general, HE disorders is currently unknown. On a practical note, shortening the diagnostic delay and the time to an appropriate treatment approach probably represents the most urgent issue, even in light of the great impact of HES on the quality of life of affected patients. The present document represents the first action that the Italian Society of Allergy, Asthma, and Clinical Immunology (SIAAIC) has finalized within a wider project aiming to establish a collaborative national network on HES (InHES-Italian Network on HES) for patients and physicians. The first step of the project could not but focus on defining a common language as well as sharing with all of the medical community an update on the most recent advances in the field. In fact, the existing literature has been carefully reviewed in order to critically integrate the different views on the topic and derive practical recommendations on disease identification and treatment approaches.

Kinetic Study and Reaction Mechanism of the Gas-Phase Thermolysis Reaction of Methyl Derivatives of 1,2,4,5-Tetroxane.

Tetroxane derivatives are interesting drugs for antileishmaniasis and antimalaric treatments. The gas-phase thermal decomposition of 3,6,-dimethyl-1,2,4,5-tetroxane (DMT) and 3,3,6,6,-tetramethyl-1,2,4,5-tetroxane (acetone diperoxide (ACDP)) was studied at 493-543 K by direct gas chromatography by means of a flow reactor. The reaction is produced in the injector chamber at different temperatures. The resulting kinetics Arrhenius equations were calculated for both tetroxanes. Including the parent compound of the series 1,2,4,5-tetroxane (formaldehyde diperoxide (FDP)), the activation energy and frequency factors decrease linearly with the number of methyl groups. The reaction mechanisms of ACDP and 3,6,6-trimethyl-1,2,4,5-tetroxane (TMT) decomposition have been studied by means of the DFT method with the BHANDHLYP functional. Our calculations confirm that the concerted mechanism should be discarded and that only the stepwise mechanism occurs. The critical points of the singlet and triplet state potential energy surfaces (S- and T-PES) of the thermolysis reaction of both compounds have been determined. The calculated activation energies of the different steps vary linearly with the number of methyl groups of the methyl-tetroxanes series. The mechanism for the S-PES leads to a diradical O···O open structure, which leads to a C···O dissociation in the second step and the production of the first acetaldehyde/acetone molecule. This last one yields a second C···O dissociation, producing O2 and another acetone/acetaldehyde molecule. The O2 molecule is in the singlet state. A quasi-parallel mechanism for the T-PES from the open diradical to products is also found. Most of the critical points of both PES are linear with the number of methyl groups. Reaction in the triplet state is much more exothermic than the singlet state mechanism. Transitions from the singlet ground state, S0 and low-lying singlet states S1-3, to the low-lying triplet excited states, T1-4, (chemical excitation) in the family of methyl tetroxanes are also studied at the CASSCF/CASPT2 level. Two possible mechanisms are possible here: (i) from S0 to T3 by strong spin orbit coupling (SOC) and subsequent fast internal conversion to the excited T1 state and (ii) from S0 to S2 from internal conversion and subsequent S2 to T1 by SOC. From these experimental and theoretical results, the additivity effect of the methyl groups in the thermolysis reaction of the methyl tetroxane derivatives is clearly highlighted. This information will have a great impact for controlling these processes in the laboratory and chemical industries.

Investigation of sleep quality and mental toughness levels of young soccer players in terms of chronotypes

Background: The purpose of this research was to determine whether there is a relation between chronotype type and factors known to have a great impact on sports performance such as sleep quality and mental toughness.Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted using the questionnaire technique. The population of this research consisted of 8.952 soccer players while the sample size consisted of 370 soccer players, with a confidence level of 95%. In this study, the "Turkish form of Morningness-Eveningness Stability Scale", "Mental Toughness Scale", and "Athlete Sleep Behavior Questionnaire- Turkish Version" scales were usedas data collection tools.Results: There was a positive and statistically significant relation between MorningType (M-Type) and Mental Toughness (p&lt;.005). In terms of sleep behavior, a statistically significant relation was found between Evening-Type (E-Type) and sleep behavior (sport-related factors), between M-Type and Neither-Type (N-Type) andsleep behavior (sleep quality), between M-Type and sleep behavior (habitual sleep efficiency) (p&lt;.005).Conclusion: Based on the data of this research, it was found that soccer players with M-Type had higher mental toughness than soccer players with E-Type and N-Type. Furthermore, it was concluded that soccer players had low sleep quality in terms of sleep habits. It was found that E-Type soccer players were affected by sport-relatedfactors, M-Type soccer players were affected by habitual sleep efficiency factors, and M-Type and N-Type soccer players were affected by inefficient sleep factors.

Effect of multiscale metro network-wide attributes on peak-hour station passenger and flow balancing

Analyzing the balance of station passenger and passenger flow is essential for understanding jobs-housing balance and built environment in station areas and network-wide range as well as for enhancing the efficiency of urban rail transit operations. Taking the Shanghai rail transit network as a case study, this paper defines the Multiscale Subnetwork (MSSN) based on a specific spatial scope. By extracting the network features and built-environment elements of the stations and the MSSN, this study analyzes the factors affecting the peak-hour station passenger and the imbalance of regional network passenger flow. The research suggests that the small MSSN analysis, within 6-8 km from a station, can provide valuable results from a network-wide perspective, rather than solely focusing on individual station areas or the entire network. The regional attributes of jobs-housing balance and the transportation conditions in the MSSN range have great impact on both station passengers and flow imbalance. This research provides theoretical insights for urban planners and policymakers to formulate effective strategies for urban rail transit networks.